


In Need of You

by Freihzeit



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Christmas, Christmas Fluff, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:20:46
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28200780
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Freihzeit/pseuds/Freihzeit
Summary: People stared at the man´s grim expression as he squeezed himself through the crowd of people who had gathered at the Christmas market.He does not remember clearly why he had agreed to meeting there but this did not matter now as he was already there.A gigantic Christmas tree rose up high right in the center of the market,delighting everyone who came across it.The man found a place to stand and wait while he pondered.He disliked everything about Christmas and no one could change his mind.Or maybe someone could?......Maybe he had been wrong all along.
Relationships: Byun Baekhyun/Park Chanyeol
Kudos: 3





	In Need of You

_ Disclaimer: This is purely fiction!The characters´s actions in this piece of fiction are in no way,shape or form meant to be taken seriously nor do they represent reality.This is purely meant for entertaiment.Dont distribute! Song : All i want for Christmas is you (by Mariah Carey) _

_Once_ a year there comes a time which awakens the most distinct emotions in the hearts of the people on earth. This time is ushered in and accompanied by the icy,supposedly most depressing of the year, winter.The icy weather of winter hides the vast landscape in its coat of white flaky coldness. The days get longer and plunge the landscape into what feels like eternal darkness. Almost everything looks bleak and barren, but this time always arouses a feeling of anticipation in the perished bodies of mankind.

This incomparable time bears the name: Christmas

Christmas,the supposed festival of love and charity,is,at least for the large majority of people who celebrate it, one of the most beautiful and anticipated times of the year. Many associate good memories with this festival, its wonderful smells of good, hearty food,distinctive decoration and getting together with family, loved ones or acquaintances with whom they decided to spend this delightful time together. Gifts, love, and a careful attitude play a meaningful role. Just as beautiful are the old or new traditions and the free vacation to simply free yourself from your stressful everyday life. All of this sounds almost too good to be true.

Nevertheless,Christmas also has its downsides to it that most Christmas fanatics do not seem to recognize. For many, Christmas creates even more stress. How many people actually hate the idea of giving and receiving presents, or would rather avoid the family getting together for various reasons. The annoying weight gain, full streets as well as the excessive media coverage all contribute to the fact that people prefer to leave the holidays behind them as quickly as possible and return to their everyday life. There are many more reasons to dislike Christmas. In addition to love and care, there is a lot of envy, hatred and resentment among people.

Christmas often brings out people's true faces and facets,whether they are good or bad. With all this in mind, the question arises: Is Christmas really that important and if it is,then what is so important about it?

* * *

_Now,_ with only a few days left before Christmas Eve, a small,neat Christmas market had been erected in the center of a remote, unfamiliar city no one besides its citizens seemed to care much about. The narrow huts of the market stood close together so that they formed a sort of circle formation that ended in a kind of similar maze shape which nobody could scurry through effortlessly. Bright lights, Christmas baubles and other colorful decorations adorned the already decorated and painted huts of the salesmen who did their best to acquire customers for their special hand-made products. A wide range of handcrafted carvings, Christmas decoration, fashion, art, various kinds of sweets and traditional Christmas dishes could be found and explored there,at the stalls. The smell of roasted sweet almonds, gingerbread, cinnamon and hot mulled wine swirled in the air while loud Christmas music shot forth from every corner of the market . It truly felt like a kind of magical winter wonderland to those who decided to spend some of their precious free time there.Even during the day, crowds of people flocked to the market.

Now however,darkness had decided to cloud the region and more and more people came to the brightly-lit market,longing for nothing more than to be finally able to warm up and have fun after another exhausting, icy Christmas day.

_A man_ pushed his way through the large crowd that had now gathered at the market. Every now and then he decided to take a glance at the other warmly-dressed people who were standing at some of the stalls,drinking, eating and laughing while they conversated playfully. The man could see his cold breath escaping his mouth in the radiant glow of the dim,cosy lights that lightened up the market. He gently rubbed his hands together in an attempt to warm his frozen body up again, which unfortunately did not bring him the anticipated result he so desparately wished for. Despite his warm garments, it was far too cold, not to start freezing in this chilly winternight. Resolutely, he stuffed his hands back into his jacket pocket and defiantly continued his way through the crowd, which had noticed his sullen look and was staring right after him.

Determined to reach his destination as quickly as possible,he continued his journey through the crowd.

_A_ huge,kindly garnished Christmas tree rose straight up in the center of the market, several meters high and its needles reaching far out in the dark. It was truly gigantic to look at and the tree attracted the masses the most out of all the other attractions at the market. A splendid, golden star was placed on its top, highlighting the already decorated tree once more,seemed to be drawing even more people to the location.Green, silver,white, golden and red Christmas baubles were hung upon the dark green fir tree, which was also richly decorated with fairy lights andtinsel. Several large huts made of dark birch wood stood around the tree. Laughter and music emerged from them and quite a lot of people came out of them with a cup of hot mulled wine to stand in front of the tree and admire it.Smiles were plastered on their faces while they chattered and warmed their perished bodies with the hot beverages in their hands.

This was by far the most well-liked location at the market.

_The man_ ,now slightly frantic, squeezed his way through the crowd that had gathered at the garnished tree and found,shortly afterwards,a relatively empty spot next to another much smaller fir tree.There he stopped,stood there and kept waiting.His body had continuously grown more and more perished with time,despite wearing warm clothing.He shivered violently.

Trying to warm himself, his gaze fell upon the reflection of a shiny,golden bauble on the fir tree as he slowly began to lose himself in his own thoughts:

_The cold_ is only a small part of what he hates about this season of the year and especially Christmas time. He would be able to rant for hours about why Christmas is not special to him if someone asked him to. Hundreds of arguments would come to his mind. Of course, as a teenager, and especially as a young child, he had loved Christmas so much to the point that he sometimes had not been able to sleep for days as his excitement had been too great to let him fall asleep. But that was perfectly normal, right? Children are almost always thrilled by the idea of a magical day once a year where a jolly old man brings them their long-awaited gifts and wishes.It had always been a delightful time to him personally. But now he was no longer a child and his opinion had changed. The older he eventually got and the more responsibilities he was given, the more his joy for Christmas stifled ultimately to the point of vanishing completely.Hardly anything was left of what he had previously found so fascinating and wonderful.

Nowadays he just felt stressed out by all the expectations that were placed on him during Christmas season.The pressure to meet people's expectations and to find a suitable gift for people he sometimes didn't know at all or hardly at all in the already too busy shopping streets was already strong enough to completely destroy his personal Christmas feeling for the whole year. Then there is the returning greed and resentment of the people, which got him quite confused. Okay ... the nice decoration and atmosphere, the free vacation, the often quite beautiful and useful gifts, as well as the food and the traditions are very nice, but what are they really good for? The miserably long journeys to and from his family brought enough despair to him, as the streets are usually too crowded to drive on properly. And once you're there, the entire evening is often characterized by embarrassing questions, arguments and pretended interest.He knows that he might be a bit dramatic with all of this,but in conclusion:

Christmas just wasn't important to him.

_“ But what makes Christmas really that important, hyung? I mean, it's all cute and even a bit tacky at times, but I don't really get the point behind it…”_ _,_

The sound came from a confused voice from a group of people standing right in front of him. The group consisted of ten people who had been talking eagerly beforehand but fell silent when a young man who had thrown his arm around someone else,asked them curiously. _"Of course Christmas is important!_ ", declared another man enthusiastically across from him and continued as follows: _"Christmas is the time we get together and remind ourselves to appreciate and care for our most loved ones while we are still able to.Surely,you could do this at any given moment but I believe that I speak for the most of us when I say that we just forget to do that as we are oftentimes too caught up with our usual responsibility.That is what´s really important about Christmas.The gifts or any of the other superficial traditions,just like any of the negative things, are not the most vital part about Christmas.It´s feeling the love and kindness of others that we learn to appreciate and what really makes Christmas what it truly is: a celebration of love and kindness.Tell me Sehun,is there someone that makes your heart flutter that you don´t feel like you appreciate enough? "_ Nodding followed from the round and the younger man thoughtfully looked down at the person he was holding in his arms. _"You might actually be right for once, Junmyeon"_ , Sehun replied with conviction and gave the person in his arms a quick kiss on the forehead, who then blushed.

_"Sehun not here ......"_

_"Yes, right here Luhan"_

The man had kept an eye on the group the whole time and now turned his gaze back to literally nothing when he thought he had heard enough. Was there anything plausible to what the guy had just said?Was it really just the cohesion and the fact that there is someone to take care of you that brings us the joy that Christmas radiates? Was it really not the gifts and the general marketed image?This got him thinking. The more he brooded, the more he began to doubt his own conception of Christmas. Christmas wasn't that important to him, or was it? A familiar face kept showing up in his mind and he grinned stupidly when he thought of that certain person who had ordered him here today. For this person it would actually be worth celebrating Christmas with her ... with this person he was ready to have fun and celebrate together, because this person was all he really needed to enjoy Christmas as it is.

Come to think ,he would love to!-

_A frosty gust of wind_ threw him out of his thoughts and he began to tremble widly. Once again,he started rubbing his hands together for warmth and threatened to fall back into his trance when he felt a touch on his back. Confused, he turned around to see who the creature disturbing him was and saw another person standing right in front of him :

_“You are quite late!What took you so long?”_

His breathing stopped abruptly.

_A cute boy_ who seemed to be in his 20s rang out in front of him.He had put on a big grin on his slightly tanned face,where you could see his bright white teeth shining.He was wearing a grey winter jacket together with a red cap and a matching red cotton scarf which made the boy dressed just appropiate enough not to freeze in the cold.He was not wearing any gloves,but he had two steaming blue cups of muddled wine in each of his hands that warmed his delicate soft fingers.His sharp,clean face free of any maks,his lips thin thin but plump,overall he leaned to be on the more feminine side with his looks.Altogether,his appearance resembled that of a puppy a little,not to mention that he was almost two heads shorter than the other.

He really did not notice himself staring at the other for too long.

_“Why_ _are you staring at me like this_ ?”The boy asked him with raised eyebrows ,visibly confused by the man’s ever so sullen face and unreadable mood.

 _“For nothing. I just got lost in thoughts and then you decided to show up and disturb me”_ The man replied sheepishly which seemed to satisfy his newfound company just enough to let the topic go.

 _“I am sorry for dragging you all the way here.I know how much you dislike big crowds and tacky music”_ The smaller apologized and just received a headshake from the other.

_“It is fine,it´s not like I would ever say no to you,besides I don’t have anything to do anyway.”_

The man shook and the smaller stepped closer to him.

 _”Here”_ The shorter one breathed out before handing him one of the cups with hot mulled wine inside. The man gladly took the cup, not forgetting to notice the boys warm fingers brushing against his own cold ones.He took a long sip ,still feeling the unbearable cold as the other person came even closer to him.

“ _I know that you are usually not someone to enjoy Christmas time”_ The other spoke up while standing next to him,eyes lost in the tree in front of them.

 _“Is that so?”_ The man asked curiously turning his head towards the boy who´s eyes were still turned to the tree.

 _“At least that´s what you have been telling to me for ages now.Useless gifts,too many sweets ,people being devious and selfish,you remember?”_ The boy told him ,slightly turning his eyes to stare at him for a moment.The boy knew this man better than anyone else.

_“Hm, yeah I do,but I´ve changed my mind about Christmas recently”_

First a confused expressions which then turned into an enchanted glance could be seen on the boy´s face and a delighted chuckle escaped his mouth.The smaller started to lean against him,head pressed against his shoulder as he continuously stared at the tree which now seemed to have changed to something unexplainably brighter and much more familiar.

_“So does that mean we can throw a Christmas feast with friends now?”_ The smaller questioned.

“ _No.I would rather not-”_

_“I thought you´ve changed your mind?”_ The smaller pouted,playing with the fabric of his sleeve _._

 _“Yeah,but I´m still not a party guy.It´s not what I want.”_ He replied shortly which earned him a frown of the other.

 _“Is this one of your jokes again?If you don´t want anything you should tell me so I can at least stop worrying about it._ ”

**_A song starts playing in the background .People immediately start cheering and singing along._ **

**_I don´t want a lot for Christmas ~_ **

“ _However,there_ _actually is one thing I want.”_

**_There is just one thing I need ~_ **

_“Oh,what is it?Tell me so I can get it before Christmas eve,Yeol!”The boy called out and took the man´s hand in his with an eager expression in his eyes._

The man just shook his head.

**_I don´t care about the presents ~_ **

**_Underneath the Christmas tree ~_ **

The music slightly fades into the background as the man turns his head towards his partner.

_“I have thought a lot about it while coming here.It took me quite a while but I have concluded that I don´t need a lot to enjoy Christmas as it is.”_

A cute frown appeared on his partner´s face and he opened his mouth to speak but-

_“Because All I really want for Christmas this year,Baekhyun-”_

He took a long breath.

_ “Is You.”  _

**_All I want for Christmas is You ~_ **

_People_ cry out the last verses with all their heart while Chanyeol pressed his lips onto Baekhyun´s which returned the kiss just as longingly.The icy feeling in Chanyeol´s body extinguished and he now felt a cosy warm feeling spreading inside his chest and whole body.He knew this was the right wish to make as nothing else could make him feel what he was experiencing now. Only Baekhyun could possibly give him the warmth that his body so desperately needed.Without him he would only be half the person he was now.Without him he would have probably already gone mad by stress by now and he definitely didn’t appreciate his boyfriend enough at times.He had learned his lesson and was ready to make this Christmas and every future one a happy event for them both.As all he wanted and needed for Christmas was his boyfriend,Baekhyun.

* * *

´It´s not what´s under the tree that´s important, It´s the people around it that matter most´

\- unkown

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone!
> 
> So I finally managed to write a story of my own after being an active fanfiction reader for a few years now.I had a lot of fun writing this and hope at least some people will enjoy this piece of work.I would love to hear some of your´s opinion about this story,whether they are good or bad.
> 
> Do you guys like Christmas?
> 
> I wish for you all to stay safe and sound during this current on going crisis~

**Author's Note:**

> I wish for you all to stay safe and sound during this current on going crisis~


End file.
